What Happens When the World’s Climate Warms?

A printable version of the above infographic may be found here.

If humanity doesn’t curb its Carbon Dioxide and Methane emissions the Earth’s climate will warm by as many as 5 degrees Celsus. While five degrees may not sound overly dramatic, an upward shift by that amount would set off a cascade of changes that would probably lead to the extinction of most of the animals and plants on the planet–including humans.

Five degrees is a catastrophic outcome and would take at least a century and unabated burning of oil and coal in order to actually happen. A much more hopeful and attainable goal would be 1.5 to 2 degrees. We need to be clear-eyed about this range of warming. It will still be catastrophic and probably inevitable. Unfortunately, the planet has already seen about one degree of warming. With it has come more hot days, fires, and fierce storms.

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued an authoritative and sophisticated report that stresses the importance of avoiding any warming above 1.5 degrees Celsus.

The infographic above is a collection of the kinds of problems that will emerge with increasing average temperatures around the world. All of the facts are gleaned from David Wallace-Well’s Uninhabitable Earth and the IPCC report. The various problems represented by icons and brief descriptions are only a fraction of the cascading problems that will emerge as the mercury rises across the planet. The infographic may be used without permission. Attribution would be appreciated.